Many congratulations to Drs Beth Curtis, Millie Parsons, Michael Clynes and Nick Fuggle on winning prestigious Young Investigator Awards for the outstand quality of their submitted work at the 2018 National Osteoporosis Society Annual Conference, which took place in Birmingham 2-4 December. The investigators, who are all based the MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit (MRC LEU), University of Southampton, each gave a short oral presentation of their work, and received the prizes at the conference awards ceremony in Birmingham’s International Convention Centre. Professor Cyrus Cooper, Director of the MRC LEU, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, and Professor Nicholas Harvey, Professor of Rheumatology and Clinical Epidemiology at the MRC LEU, gave major invited plenary presentations; Dr Kate Ward, Associate Professor at the MRC LEU, led a Meet the Expert Workshop. All have long contributed to the Society, with Prof Cooper as past Chair, and Prof Harvey and Dr Ward as members of the Conference Organising Committee.

Prof Harvey said, “It is wonderful to see the quality of our discovery science recognised at this national meeting. These awards are hugely well deserved, and reflect the talent and incredibly hard work of these outstanding researchers.”

Prof Cooper added, “Our science presented at the 2018 NOS conference forms part of a larger body of work in which we aim to address the determinants of common non-communicable musculoskeletal conditions, such as osteoporosis, sarcopenia and osteoarthritis, across the lifecourse. These studies have made substantial contributions to this mission and I offer my warmest congratulations to our excellent young investigators!”